Sunday’s Los Angeles showdown between the Clippers and Lakers doesn’t have the same muster without Anthony Davis and LeBron James suiting up for the Lakers. The Lakers have won three of their last four, but the Clippers might be the best opponent Los Angeles has played since James’ injury. The Clippers enter this game on a two-game skid, but they should be able to handle the LeBron-less Lakers.
A few months ago, everyone was circling Sunday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers. It was supposed to be a contest between the top-two teams in the Western Conference with city pride on the line. What fans are actually getting is a lackluster version of that rivalry with Anthony Davis and LeBron James out of the Lakers’ lineup for extended periods of time. The lack of star power in the Lakers’ lineup has moved them down to fourth in the Western Conference, a half-game behind the Clippers sitting in third place. The Clippers are three games behind Phoenix for the second seed and a full six games back of Denver atop the conference. What is interesting about the Lakers’ conundrum is that the defense hasn’t really lost a step since James’ injury. In the 42 games before LeBron went down, the Lakers were allowing teams to shoot 45.3 percent from the field, including 35.3 percent from behind the arc. In the seven games without James, the Lakers are allowing 46-percent shooting and just 33.6-percent shooting from 3-point range. The obvious deficiency is on offense where the Lakers are shooting five percentage points worse from the field, and a little more than a percentage point worse from behind the arc. We know that Kyle Kuzma and Dennis Schroder can carry the load for a little bit to help keep the Lakers afloat, but they need strong games from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell if they hope of upsetting the Clippers. The Clippers enter this game having lost two straight after winning six in a row and eight of their previous 10 games. Their challenge has also been on the offensive end of the floor where they have been wildly inconsistent. In their last six games, they’ve scored more than 120 points three times and less than 100 the other three times. It’s been almost three weeks since the Clippers have scored between 100 and 118 points in a game. Yet in their last 10 games, the Clippers have allowed no more than 112 points and they’ve kept eight opponents to 105 points or fewer. Los Angeles knows what it is getting from George and Leonard on a nightly basis, but the Clippers are far more dangerous when Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard are able to score to create more secondary scoring options besides Terance Mann, who is averaging 15 points per game over his last eight for the Clippers. Understandably, the Clippers are massive 11-point favorites at the NBA betting sites in New Jersey. When the Clippers have won since the All-Star break, it has been by a lot, and the Lakers haven’t kept it close in most of their losses. But when you look at how well the Lakers’ defense has been playing, I could see this game being a slugfest. Both offenses have looked sluggish in recent weeks, which is why I’m betting under 210.5 total points at +145 odds from the basketball betting sites in New Jersey. As for the game itself, we’ll follow that logic to think the Lakers will be within single digits, so I’m going to double up on these bets at the legal sports betting sites in New Jersey. I’ll start with the general betting on the Clippers to win by 10 or fewer points for +190 odds then tack on betting the Clippers to win by five points or fewer for +525 odds and the Clippers to win by between six and 10 points for +333 odds.
L.A. Lakers + 11 points Despite the fact the Lakers have won three of their last four games, this is a tall task to think they can win this game. The Clippers might have lost two straight, but they had won eight of their previous 10 and are still the better team. I’m just not convinced the Clippers will be able to blow out the Lakers now that they’ve settled into a groove without their superstars.
